Not Another Au!
by vanilluhbeaux
Summary: Todoroki's bad attitude and disdain for the rules is going to get them all killed, literally. / a crack! another au where Todoroki is the new kid and Izuku should've been ignored.
1. the risk i took was calculated

If there was anything Todoroki Shouto hated more than boiling water, it was feeling someone's stress in his body. It was invasive, and completely uncalled for, someone gaining the balls to project their emotions so loudly that it strike him. Yet, here he was, sitting across the kitchen table trying to enjoy a bowl of cereal while his mother looked nervous enough to have a heart attack three feet from him. "Mom," he began, taking her hand softly, "if you're gonna worry like this, you can't sit with me."

The older woman cracked a small, sad smile, accentuating the thin lines forming underneath her eyes. Staring at her, his mismatched eyes looking at her grey ones with an intensity he got from his father, he noticed that he never seen her look So aged—not during the fragments of memories he had from his childhood, not during any of the supervised visits he had during puberty, and not throughout the trials this summer and all the summers before. Up until this point, his mother had remained perfectly ageless, stuck in her mid-twenties. "I can't help but to worry, Shouto," she sighed, placing her hands on her temples. "I got my baby back but he's not a baby anymore, and now he's going to a new school and doesn't have a friend in the world."

"I'm not interested in making friends," he quipped back, taking a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"Oh God," she moaned, dropping her head onto the table, "your father's made you antisocial." Shouto only shrugged and continued to eat his cereal, smacking his lips very loudly. "There's nothing wrong with having friends, Shouto."

"I don't want anything to do with the idiots down at that school, mom," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"You don't even know them."

"I don't _need_ to know them. They go to public school for a reason."

"A public school that _you'll_ be attending," a sharp voice interjected, "and _please,_ little brother, don't cut yourself on all that edge." Shouto looked up to find his eldest brother, Touya looking down at him, all smiles and black hair dye. The elder Todoroki placed a kiss on his mother's forehead, the small smile spreading into something larger, fuller.

"I'm only going to public school because—" Shouto began.

"—Dad's going to jail!" Touya finished, his own smile growing wide. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"That's not—" their mother attempted to say, but she was cut off by her youngest son.

"It's fuckin amazing," Shouto said, his own smile forming on his face.

"Boys!" their mother screamed, closing her eyes and scrunching her face together. "What we will not do," she said, her eyes serious and fingers pointing sharp, "is talk about your father. Outside, we probably can't avoid talking about him—he _was_ Endervour, after all—but inside of this house, we don't have to talk about him. He isn't ruining our lives anymore." The boys looked at each other and nodded at their mom, the younger taking this oppurtunity to take another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Slowly, Touya raised his hand, a devilish smirk crossing his features. "Do I want to answer your question?" she sighed, a small smile crossing her face again.

"Can we talk shit about dad? 'Cause fuck that guy, mom." Touya said, crossing his arms over his chest triumphantly.

"Yeah, fuck him," Shouto added.

"My ex-husband corrupted my first son and turned my last one into a potty mouth," their mom said, head falling into his hands and sighing loudly. "Don't you both have a class? College and high schools and everything?" she sighed. She glanced at the clock and seen that it was a quarter past eight—the train would be coming shortly. "Please," she said, looking to Touya with wide eyes, "please make sure my baby gets to school safely."

x

Shouto was only able to steal glimpses of the principal as he sat outside of his office, his foot tapping the floor impatiently as he waited to be seen by the man. From what he could see, he was an older man with white hair and round, dark eyes, seeing pupiless. He was going back and forth with another man, probably a few years younger than him, but he looked like he hadn't showered in days. A teenager was in the room as well, though he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. It looked like it was turning into a shouting match, though he was not able to hear much through the thick glass. The door opened a the teenager walked out, his eyes sullen and his face annoyed. He could hear the yelling that he thought what was going on, shoutings of "You can't!" leaving the room before the door slammed shut.

"What the fuck is going on in there?" Shouto asked, his voice deep and serious.

"None of your fucking business," the other teenager responded, pushing his purple hair out of his face. His sullen, purple eyes rolled about in his skull, irritated but not paying Shouto any extra attention. With a heavy sigh, he put his white headphones in his ears and closed his eyes, rocking his head back and forth. He leaned back in his chair, probably thinking that he would be in the office a while, and he was going to ignore Shouto the entire time.

Like hell t(he)y were.

With "Fuck this," rolling off of his tongue, Shouto stood up and walked towards the closed office door and flung it open, much to the annoyance of the purple haired teenager sitting next to him. He found himself staring at the two men in the room, the white haired principal looking unsettlingly calm while staring at the scruffy man, who's narrow eyes bore into Shouto's angst-filled teenage soul. The scruffy man looked like he hadn't slept in years, deep bags settling under his eyes as if they belonged, the discoloration almost natural. His greasy, dark hair was splayed all across his head, falling in his face, almost shielding him from the teenager's view. A small scar ran along one of his eyelids, reminding Shouto of his own scar over his left eye. He reached out to touch it, but snapped out of it when he felt the tough, wrinkled skin that he's always known to be there. Seeing the men's expressions shift from confused to irritated, he opened his mouth and flippantly said, "What the fuck is taking so long? I wanna be in class before I graduate."

The scruffy man's eyes rolled before he diverted his attention back to the principal, saying, "Why can't we put this little shit in class 1-A and leave my son out of it?"

"That's an awful thing to say, Aizawa!" the principal scolded, but he made no effort to conceal the smile that formed on his face. "Besides, this is Todoroki. He's going to be joining class 1-A as well, the school it too crowded to put them any place else. If we had it my way, there would be no class 1-A, but we both know that isn't how it works," the principal said, adding a dry laugh to the end of his sentence. Shouto gave a haphazard glance to his nameplate, reading _Nezu._ Principal Nezu continued, "I'll get you in your class shortly, young man, though you're welcome to take a seat next to Shinsuo in the waiting area."

"I'm sick of waiting," he countered, leaning into the doorway. The principal kept his smile on his face and crossed his unusually large hands, twiddling his thumbs.

"And that's fine, young man, but that doesn't mean anything is going to move any faster. Here at Yuuei, we don't operate on the schedules of entitled brats such as yourself. And the next time you come into my office using harsh language, there will be dire consequences. Feel free to stand in my doorway if it tickles your fancy. A representative from your class should be here shortly." Silently, Shouto leaned into the doorway, crossing his arms across his chest and huffing slightly. A small smirk crossed his face, and he looked at the principal with sight disdain. The principal bought his eyes back to Aizawa, continuing, "I'm doing everything I can for my student's safety. I always do. This is just how it has to be."

"That's bullshit!" Aizawa said, slamming his hand on the table, "This doesn't just affect you, Nezu! It affects my son! Both of them!"

"Aizawa—"

"Mirio's in college, now! And Eri," he paused for a moment, a small smile appearing on his face, "...Nezu, she's so perfect." Aizawa opened his palm and closed it again, cracking his knuckles. "My kids have already been through enough, Nezu! This class is evil, and you know it! My kids can't afford any accidents! They are all they've got!"

"I understand that, but my hands are tied. If everyone follows the rules set in place, then maybe we can finish the year without incident. It's all I can do," Nezu said, his voice leaving his body towards the end. "This is hard for all of us, and it affects all of us. Nobody knows who's going to be next, Shouta."

A soft knock on the door drew everyone's attention away from the principal and the parent, bringing it to a young woman, peeking her head into the doorway. From what Shouto could see of her, she was pretty, having sparkling dark eyes and sharp features. Her long, dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she spoke softly, "Sir?" Hesitently, she bought herself in the office, allowing Shouto to see her fully. Her long legs were covered in black tights that stopped right below her knees, and Todoroki took full notice of this. Her dark green skirt covered far too much for his liking, but he didn't say anything. She wore a grey vest over her white uniform shirt, emphasizing how small her waist was compared to her chest. "I'm Momo Yaoyorozu," she said, extending her hand to Shouto, who bought it towards his lips and placed a small kiss on her palm. A light blush crossed her face before she snatched her hand away, saying, "I-I'll be taking you and Shinsuo to class."

With that, she turned on her heels and exited the office, Shouto trailing not too far behind her. The purple haired teenager followed along silently behind, his shoes silently scuffing against the floor. Aizawa and Nezu watched them until they couldn't see them anymore, disappearing into the dimly lit hallways. When the teenagers disappeared, Aizawa turned to Nezu and said, "If my son—if any of those kids die, you're next."

x

"Class 1-A runs a little different from the rest of the class," Momo started, walking the teenagers down the halls, "we have a couple rules, and really bad things happen when you don't follow them.

"I don't like rules," Shouto replied, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"They're there for a reason," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Rules are made to be broken, Momo."

"That's the exact opposite of what rules are made for, Todoroki," she replied, her voice stern. They came upon a door and she opened it, smiling as she entered the class. The room radiated with life, bright colors from every angle attacking Todoroki. Laughter and chatter filled the air, creating a warm atmosphere that he almost basked in. His eyes were immediately drawn to the back of the classroom, seeing a row of empty desk and a single student sitting behind those desk, his green eyes bleeding into his own. His slightly tanned face was covered in freckles and he made no effort to look friendly, sitting in the back of the classroom without a single emotion displayed on his face.

He needed a haircut.

"Everyone, this is Todoroki and Shinsuo," Momo introduced loudly, "and maybe they would like to say something about themselves...?" Her eyes trailed to them, looking up at them brightly.

As if on cue, both of them said, "I'm not here to make friends." A strange silence crept into the class, but a moment later the students erupted into laughter, save for two of them—a blonde boy with an angry aura and a brunette with dark skin, who seemed to have a dark cloud circling him.

A blonde with a dark streak in his hair spoke up, "There can't be two edgy bitches in this class—"

"Language, Kaminari!" the teacher, an attractive young woman with diamond shaped glasses and bright blue eyes, scolded.

"Sorry, Miss Midnight," the blonde, Kaminari, said before continuing, "There can't be two edgy _fucks—"_ he looked at Miss Midnight, who nodded her head in approval—"in this class, and Half 'n Half's got you beat, Cheshire Cat. Come on and sit next to me." He patted the empty desk behind him, calling over Shinsuo, who only sighed and grabbed the seat that he pointed to. Todoroki, on the other hand, stayed standing in the doorway, his eyes locked on the boy with green eyes and freckles.

"Sit wherever you'd like, Todoroki," Miss Midnight spoke, placing her hand on his shoulder, having it linger a little to long for it to be appropriate—not that he minded. "Just not in the very back, it's hand to see you from back there." It was becoming painfully obvious that they didn't want him in the back of the classroom, next to the boy with those piercing green eyes.

But he was going to do that anyway, because that's just who he was.

Confidently, he sauntered to the back of the room, taking the seat right in front of him. Miss Midnight gave him a soft, pleading look before shaking her head no, saying, "There's nothing for you back there. You're about to make a very big mistake, Todoroki."

"Am I breaking the rules?"

"You're about to," she said, her voice stern and powerful.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he replied, a small smile forming on his face. He turned his head around, looking at the boy in his green eyes. He noticed the way his hair curled, thick from the root, a slight green tinge to the almost blackness that consumed the top of his head. His delicate green eyes lit up as Todoroki looked at him, but he said nothing, drawing in an anxious breath.

"You need a haircut."


	2. but damn, am i bad at math

A deadly silence overtook the classroom, deep breaths being held collectively in their chest and multiple pairs of eyes stared at the boy with half white and half red hair. Shouto felt their eyes gazing at him in shock and horror, but continued to stare only at the curly haired boy with green eyes. The boy stared back at him, his eyes wide but saying nothing, still as a statue. He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly through full, parted lips.

"I'm going to kill that bastard," an angry voice said, grabbing Shouto's attention. Whipping his head around, he found an angry blonde staring at him, a murderous glint in his red eyes. Rolling his eyes, Shouto turned his attention back to the pretty boy with pretty eyes, just in time to catch him move his lips.

"Kacchan!"

The first word Shouto heard out his mouth was someone else's name—and he couldn't help but feel jaded by it. It rolled off the tongue easily, as if he'd been saying it his entire life. There was no reason why his first word should've been anything else—though there's no reason why it shouldn't have been, either. He did love the way his voice sounded, however. It was enthusiastic and bright, and it would've bought a smile to his face—had "Kacchan" not spoke.

"I'm gonna beat up that green haired bitch too," Kacchan affirmed, looking at the girl next to him, who furrowed her small eyebrows. She pouted her full lips at him and huffed with disdain, crossing her arms across her chest. "But I'm going to kill that mismatched fucker first."

"Katsuki!" she screamed, slamming her hands down on her desk.

"Ochako!" he screamed back, his voice strained. The class let out a collective groan that seemed to resonate in Shouto's soul. Judging by their responses, these two arguing was not anything they wanted to be around. "If anyone's going to die in this bitch, he's going to be first," he finished, looking Shouto in his eyes.

"Nobody's gonna die, babe," she said, rolling her amber eyes and placing a hand on her round cheeks.

"We don't know that anymore!" he argued back. "Anything we had stopping this shit is gone because Deku decided he wanted to be a fucking attention whore!"

"I didn't do anything," the green eyed boy squeaked from his seat in the back of the classroom. "I've just been sitting here this whole time. It's not my fault I'm cute." He threw his hands up as he shrugged, and shook his hair out of his eyes a little.

"Okay confidence!" a girl with light tan skin and yellow eyes, Mina Ashido, said from the front of the classroom, "I see you, boo!" Her pink hair whipped around her head as she looked at Ochako and called, "Are we still going to the pool? 'Cause I still wanna go."

"She's not going any-fucking-where," the blond yelled, putting a defensive hand on her shoulder. "Not while there's a fucking curse on all of us! And your stupid ass shouldn't want to go, either," he muttered the last part, purposely lowering his voice so that she wouldn't hear him, but she did anyway. Ochako, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at him, crossing her arms across her chest and furrowing her brows.

"You're not my dad," she said, defiantly.

"But you call me daddy, so shut the fuck up."

Before she could open her mouth to retort, the bell rang—a long, loud sound that echoed throughout the entire building. Slowly, the students began rising from their seats, running over to their friends before heading to lunch. "So what're you in the mood for, fluffy? I want a _good_ burger," Denki said, slinging his arm around Shinsuo, who either didn't notice or mind enough to remove it. He kept his nose buried deep into his phone, scrolling through his library to find a new song to play while walking to the cafeteria. "But ony if there's fries with it—curly fries. I fucking _love_ curly fries," Denki continued.

"I like curly fries too...and call me Shinsuo," he said, throwing a glance at Denki, his eyes lighting up slightly.

"So you _can_ speak? I thought you were blind or something."

"You're a moron." With a roll of purple eyes, he turned up the volume of his phone, intent on drowning out the world—or at least the barely-passing student talking in his ear.

"What's in your headphones?" he said, pulling a white earbud out and dropping it.

"I only listen to thug music," Shinsuo said, showing his phone with a proud smile on his face and popping his dropped headphone into Denki's ear. _You can stand my umbrella-ella-ella, eh eh eh,_ echoed throughout his ears. "Rihanna's the G.O.A.T.—the greatest of all time. She's savage," he said, carrying onto his own world.

On the otherside of the classroom, Todoroki stood aloof, Deku staring at his with large, bright eyes. "Thank you for noticing me," he started, looking up at the taller teenager with stars in his eyes, "You acknowledged me...even after knowing that you could die, you still chose to see me. It's been so long since anyone's noticed me—which doesn't make a whole lot of sense because I'm the main character, but whatever."

"Weird flex but okay," Shouto said, blowing off what Deku said and preferred just to look at him. He cocked his head to the side as the gears in his brain turned, red hair falling into his grey eyes. "Wait, what the fuck, Deku? Run that back," he said, twisting his fingers in circles.

"One," he began, "my name is Izuku Midoriya."

"Whatever, just say that again," he demanded, pushing the hair out of his eyes. He knew that he had to be mistaken—that he hadn't heard what he just thought he heard.

"I'm the main character?"

"Further back."

"Nobody noticed me?"

"Further."

"Knowing you could die?"

So he _did_ hear what he thought he heard. "Yeah—that—what the fuck? When the fuck—why would anybody die?" he said, throwing his hands up in the air, a confused look crossing his features.

"It's the disaster," Momo said, crossing her arms across her chest and a frown forming on her lips, "we don't know what happens—or why, really. Only that it _does_ happen."

"What the fuck is 'it'?!" Shouto said, his voice aggressive and exasperated.

"Every year, people in this classroom and people close us to die—in horrible ways. Thirty years ago, there was a student in class 1-A named Yagi Toshinori, and everybody loved him. He was insanely popular—always smiling. One day, he got murdered in the building—they found his intenstines outside of his body. But his classmates loved him so much that they kept acting like he was still with them. And ever since that year ended, there's been an 'extra' student in the class. A dead one," Momo said, her voice tight and angry, "To account for them, we ignore one student from the class. It's worked for six years—until _you_ ruined it, Todoroki!"

"You _just_ said that you didn't know what happened or why," Shouto said, a second away from tears his hair out.

"I lied for suspense," Momo shrugged, walking away from the group, grabbing a girl with short, purple hand's and pulling her out of the classroom.

"What does any of this shit mean?" Todoroki said, looking back at Izuku. The boy stared at him with bright eyes, and opened his mouth to speak, but the words were stolen from his throat. Before he could warn him, a strong hit came from the side of his face, throwing his off his balance.

"It means that you fucking killed us all, dumbass!" Katsuki yelled, the girl with auburn hair—Ochako—gripping his shoulder with strength that he didn't think she possessed. "All because you just _had_ to talk to the fucking loser? I swear to God if anyone dies, you're going next," he threatened, his finger pointed in Shouto's face.

"Bakugou!" a taller boy yelled, "I understand that you're angry—"

"Eat a dick, Iida," he hissed back, "My girlfriend has asthma. You don't know shit."

"I'm sorry everyone," Ochako apologized, gripping his shoulders tighter than before, pulling him away from the small group forming. "We're leaving," she whispered in his ear, and he allowed her to lead him away. She dropped her hand from his shoulder and it found itself in his larger hand, intertwined where she felt like she was supposed to be. As they left out of the classroom, she rested her head on her shoulder, his skin warming her cheek. They turned down the hallway, but stopped before the cafeteria, Bakugou taking a turn that Ochako didn't expect. She cocked a small eyebrow but said nothing—there was rarely anything Bakugou could do to surprise her at this point in their relationship. She felt him lead her down an almost unfamiliar hall, but they stopped in front of a few lockers.

A fierce blush overtook her cheeks as she felt him cup her face with his hand. His lips graced her forehead and she closed her larger, amber eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to you," he whispered against her skin. She nodded at this, a dreamy sigh escaping her lips. "There's so much we haven't gotten to do yet...I don't want to lose a second with you."

A small smile crossed her face, and she bought his forehead down to her own, rubbing her nose against his own. "You're not going to miss a thing, babe," she said, gripping his free hand. "Nothing." She pushed herself up on her toes, bringing her lips to his and delivering a small, chaste, kiss. "I promise, we're gonna get through this."

x

The cafeteria was crowded by the time they arrived, though Mina saved the couple's seats—unfortuntely, they were right across from Todoroki and Izuku, much to Katsuki's dismay. As soon as he sat down, he stared Izuku in his bright green eyes and said, "I still need to kick your ass."

Izuku nodded, saying, "Looking forward to it." He took a bite out his sandwich, chewing.

"Are we still going swimming today, Ochako?" Mina said, smiling as she sipped her soup.

"Yeah, we can go after class today. It's super hot out today and I wanna go before it starts getting cold out," Ochako confirmed. She threw a glance at Katsuki, who nodded at her, seemingly reading her mind. "He's coming, too," she said, throwing a thumb at her boyfriend, "And you two can come along. It's been _forever_ since I was allowed to talk to Izuku." Her bright eyes looked at both Todoroki and Izuku, and she smiled softly.

"Don't come, Half 'N Half," Katsuki added, looking at him without fear.

"I'm going to come anyway," he responded, slurping his noodles loudly.

"Oop," Mina said, looking up from her food, "So you're bold bold." Katsuki threw a mean look towards her, though she didn't notice, simply smiling into her food. "Gone head; I ain't mad at cha," she finished, popping a fry into her pink lips.

"We're coming too!" Denki called, walking up to their small table with Mineta and Shinsuo, the latter of which pointing a disgusted look towards the former. "You know me and Mineta can't pass up a pool opportunity," he added, smiling softly.

"Captain Creep can't hang with us," Mina said, glaring at the shorter boy, "but y'all can slide through."

"Hey," Mineta said, "I resent that. And considering _someone_ ," he said, looking at Shouto, who very calmly flipped him off, "decided to screw us all, I want to spend what could be my last day on Earth surrounded by beautiful women in very little clothing. And _you_ do not get to decide how I live my life."'

"And you don't see anything wrong with anything you just said?" Izuku asked, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Because there was so much wrong with what you just said."

"Like what?" he asked, incredulous.

"Those 'beautiful women'," he said, putting air quotes around beautiful women, "don't want you staring at them. I'm sure they're not trying to surround you, either."

"I mean...okay?"

"You're objectification of women is disgusting, fucking weirdo," Katsuki said, rolling his eyes. "And you do realize that the more people that go—the more likely it is that someone's gonna die? Because that is exactly how this works, morons." He sipped his drink before a lightbulb went off in his head, and a sick smile crossed his face. "You know what, fuck it, let's all go. And if Mineta is the one who dies, I won't kill Todoroki. I'll still fuck Deku's ass up though."

"My name's not Deku," Izuku said.

"Your name is whatever I say it is, Deku."

"My father made me promise to stay home today," Shinsuo said, finally speaking up. "And I'd rather not hang out with this purple pervert, either."

"You have taste," Mina said, a small smile toying on her lips. "So we're all going?" A small nod from most of the table confirmed it, and Mina didn't miss the way Katsuki grabbed Ochako's hand from under the table. She sipped her tea quietly.


	3. This is wonderful!

Prinicpal Nezu ran down the hall as fast as his little legs could carry him, which admittedly wasn't very fast, but it was the effort that counted—and he put in a lot of effort. It wasn't that the principal was _fat—_ he preferred the term husky—the deliciously round man just did not like to look anything other than professional, and he'll be damned if he would dare break a sweat for any of these stupid students. Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido, for example, were gifted students—he'd never seen a kid eat thirteen hamburgers in less than fifteen minutes before Denki arrived in his building, and Mina, well, she was pretty and could dance, he supposed—but they weren't _gifted_ students. Together, maybe they could muster enough brain cells to form an average person—but separately? _Whew._ Honestly, he had a hard time believing how they survived all these years being born with the mental capacity they had.

That being said, there were students Nezu enjoyed. They all just so happened to have an IQ higher than three. Momo Yaoyorozu and Tenya Iida, for example. He would run to the ends of the Earth for those two. Their intellect was something to be marveled at—their test scores rivaled those from private schools across the entire country. And both of them were avid athletes—Momo being the captain of the volleyball team and Tenya being a forward on the basketball team. Back in his day, Nezu was quite the active student himself—he was the captain of the chess team and president of the debate club and those did count as sports in his speckled eyes.

For students like Momo and Tenya, he'd run to the ends of the Earth, and he wouldn't run a lap for students like Denki and Mina, who make up the majority of kids at his school. Go figure.

Knowing this, he didn't slow his stride as he ran down the halls to class 1-A, intent on reaching them before the school day ended. Ran by Miss Midnight, class 1-A was a class he watched very intently, for fear of disaster if he took his eyes off of them. He didn't necessarily fear the disaster itself, but parents like Aizawa, who feared the disaster more than needed. After all, people die everyday—and no life was worth more than any other—so what does it matter if it's _your_ kid? Spoiler alert: it doesn't. But if he wanted to keep his life—much less his job—then he knew that he could not share that tidbit of information.

Still, it would be nice if everyone thought like him. He continued to run, passing a blonde student, who yelled, "No running in my halls!" He stopped in his tracks.

"I'm the principal!" he yelled back, turning around to look the students in his big blue eyes. The student remained unaffected, his blue eyes blank.

"And I'm the hall monitor," he said, his voice even and undisturbed, "who has the authority to give _anyone_ detention." A slight manic smile broke out on his face as he raised his notebook, prepared to write a ticket.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Monoma?" Nezu argued back, placing a large hand on his hip. His students were going to be the death of him, he just knew it.

"Shouldn't you be in your office?" the student bit back, taking his pen and scribbling something in his notebook. He tsked and shook his head disapprovingly, saying,"This is going to be a _huge_ blemish in your permanent record." With that, he ripped the note off of his pad and handed it to the principal with a disapproving glare. He tsked again before he walked off, looking for another victim to punish.

Crumpling the note up in his giant hands, Nezu took off again—though his pace was slightly slower than before. He turned a corner, and jogged until he came face-to-face with his destination—Class 1-A. The normally quiet class was brimming to life through the closed door, probably due to the two new students who entered. Nezu heard that Todoroki was quite popular—albeit hot and cold—at his previous school, and Shinsuo seemed like he could stir the pot a little. He opened the door, and his large, black eyes scanned the room, finding the all of the students talking amongst each other in slightly hushed voices. It was a small, almost normal gesture, but it never failed to warm his heart. He loved when his students caught a break and—wait _all of the students?_ His eyes darted back and forth, counting the students in his head, finding that there was one too many participating in the classroom discussion. Nervously, he asked, "What the hell is going on here?"

"Language, Principal Nezu!" Miss Midnight scolded, pointing a red finger in his direction.

"Yeah! You're supposed to use 'fuck' so that people know you're serious, Nezu," Denki chided, shaking his head. Nezu looked over and found Miss Midnight nodding her head in approval, and he sighed greatly. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand found that he was sweating—fantastic.

"Why is everyone is class participating?" he said, opting to ignore the blonde wonder.

"Because Todoroki's a fucking idiot," Bakugou barked from his desk, his eyes ablaze, "and Deku...well, I don't know what he did wrong, but he fucking sucks anyway."

"That's not nice, Kacchan," Izuku called in a sing-song voice, not looking up from his work with the new student, Shouto.

"Kacchan's going to kick your ass," Bakugou replied in that same sing-song voice. "Both of your asses," he added.

"Didn't you say I get a pass if Mineta dies first?" Todoroki said, raising a brow. "Although we can fight. I'm with the shits."

"Face it," Mineta said, standing on his desk, "Tokoyami's gonna die first. He's probably going to croak as soon as we leave the building."

"Why me?" a dark boy with a darker aura, Tokoyami, said, crossing his arms. He rolled his brown eyes and stared at the small, purple haired pervert, and couldn't help the laugh that was forming on his lips.

"It's basic horror movie plot—the black guy dies first." Nezu was going to have a heart attack.

"That's racist, Mineta. And there's two other black people in class—Izuku and Mina. Who's stopping them from dying first?"

"One of the leading causes of death in black women just so happens to be black men," Mina said, putting a hand on her desk and turning to face Tokoyami. "So if I die, it's probably going to be your fault. Or Izuku's." A stroke maybe? Was their principal going to have a stroke?

"If anyone dies it's Izuku's fault," Denki added. Oh, he was going to have an anuerism.

"Stop it—all of you!" Nezu said, putting his hand on his temples and sighing. "SO the curse has been activated?" he said, looking directly at Momo and Tenya, who were partnered up and seemingly ignoring the spectacle that was unfolding in the class.

"Sorry Sir!" Tenya said, standing upright and bowing, "I didn't get a chance to talk to Todoroki before he violated our rules! As a class representative, I take seventy-five percent of the responsibility—though Momo should take twenty-five percent as she did only have one job."

"It's kind of hard to say 'Don't talk to the green-haired kid' without acknowledging the green-haired kid exists, but go off, I guess," Momo added from her seat, rolling her dark eyes.

"It's fine," Nezu said, propping himself on one knee and touching Momo's shoulder, "Sometimes things just happen. The important thing is that we learn from the past and move on, and try not to repeat past mistakes." She smiled at him and leaned into his soft touch, feeling his warmth. "And moving on means accepting that Class 1-A has two new students, so we need to update the class photo! If everyone could please gather around outside."

x

The sun beat down on Shouto's head and warmed his scalp, and he found himself moving towards a large tree, some of its green leaves strewn across the ground haphazardly. He sat down against it's trunk, leaning his head against the hard bark, finding it better than letting the sun beat down on him. His eyes darted back and forth between the students in the class, finding that they seemed to blend into each other but stand apart at the same time. He took special notice to Momo, ducked off away from most of the class to laugh with the same purple haired girl from earlier, a bright smile on her face as she stared at the smaller girl. They made up an un-cohesive whole, bright colors jamming into each other at odd angles to form a picture that he found different, but not bad to look at. As he looked on from the outside, he seen Izuku break away from Ochako and Tenya, making his way towards him.

"You look lonely," he said, his voice bright and happy. He took a seat next to him and said, "It's not often we get to come outside for class, and we all haven't been together for a while."

"It's nice, I suppose," he responded after a while, looking at the teenager.

"You going to the water park today? You can ride with me, if you want."

"I already told Bakugou that I'd go, and I don't wanna be looked at as a liar," he laughed off, looking Izuku in those bright green eyes. "But riding you—with you sounds nice."

"I've never had any complaints," he said, shrugging, "but sometimes I get a little too crazy with the aux cord. Denki thinks he knows trap, but Mina and I _know_ trap."

Shouto opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the principal, shouting, "Scooch together everyone! I don't want to have to use up more space than I have to!" As directed, the class got together, finding themselves close to him, underneath the tree he found himself in. Izuku stood up from his spot and moved closer to the girls, seeing as he was one of the shortest boys in the class and he wanted to be seen in the picture. Todoroki moved towards the center of the class, finding himself sandwiched in between Denki and Tenya. "Say cheese!" The camera let off a bright flash and temporarily blinded him, and he felt a strange sensation wash over him. It was cold, freezing, filling up his entire being and shaking him to his core.

And just like that, it was over.

His classmates rushed over to the phone to look at the picture, and he hung back, not wanting to crowd the principal. He looked around and found Izuku staring at him, and he wandered over to him, and found himself staring down at the phone, anyway. It was a good shot—the background was pretty and their uniforms were wonderful—but there was something off putting about it. There was something not quite right at what he was looking at.

"Where's Tooru?" Mina said, squinting.

"Right here," a short girl said, raising a hand,

"No, dumbass," Denki said.

"That's rich coming from you," the principal muttered under his breath.

"We mean like in the photo. You don't show up," Mina said, and Denki hummed in agreement, scanning the photo. The small girl pushed her way to the front and gripped the camera in her own small hands, staring down at it with intense eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows and stuck her tongue out a little, letting it rest on her face. The school bell rang in the background, and a few moments later students began pouring out of the building.

"I'm right here," she said, zooming in slightly, "I'm just little." Her voice was light but carried over the noise of everyone leaving the building, meeting up with their friends. The class let out a collective sigh of relief before splitting off, Izuku sticking to his side and grasping his hand lightly, his head turned away and laughing at something Ochako said. His hand was small but rough in his hand, and he noticed a large scar running across his palm and he felt responsible, for a reason he could not name.

"My car's this way," he said, leading him into the crowded parking lot. The students pulled into the parking lot quickly, whirring past them without regard for their safety, and Shouto wondered if it really took a curse for a casualty to happen in their school. Still, he stuck by Izuku and followed him throughout the parking lot, until they stumbled upon a bright red, but awfully small vehicle. Proudly, Izuku patted the hood, saying, "Jeezy sent me the car because I'm always wearing their shoes." He opened a door and hopped in, prompting Shouto to do the same.

"Jeezy?" he asked, "Like the shoe company?"

"Exactly," Izuku confirmed, revving up the car and pulling out of the parking lot. He handed off his phone to Shouto to key in the directions, which he did, but then he found himself scrolling through his playlist. Glancing over, Izuku smiled and said, "Pick anything you want."

"Say no more," Shouto complied, tapping the screen once before a familiar beat came on through the speakers. "My dad was an old hip-hop head," he said, before the words came in, "I knew this song like the back of my hand when I was six."

"It's not the original," Izuku said, before continuing, " _It's the City Girls and you know we'll out-fuck you, so get out my face before I touch you, heaux. Don't you know? Can't you understand? If you fuck with me I'll take your man!"_ He spared a glance over at Shouto, who sat in the passanger's seat with a slightly perplexed look on his face, but he said nothing. Slowly, a smile broke out onto his face and he shook his head, his soft hair fluttering in his face.

"It's almost like the original," he offered, a laugh on the ends of his lips. "Though, I never really cared too much for the original—anything my dad liked, I hated."

"You and your dad don't get along?"

"My dad's in jail for severely abusing me for most of my life."

"You're oversharing, but okay."

"Oversharing would be telling you that when we get to the house, my mom might be high." Izuku shot him a confused, disturbed look, prompting him to add on, "She's not a crackhead or anything—but my dad really fucked her up and she smokes a lot of week to mellow her out."

"You were right, Shouto," Izuku said, pausing for just a moment, "That would definitely be oversharing. Do you do that a lot?"

"Only with people I trust."

"You just met me—but that was cute."

"Shut up and let me flirt," Shouto said, a fake sigh leaving his voice as he tried to sound exasperated.

"You don't know how to flirt if you call that flirting."

"Maybe you could show me how sometime," Todoroki proposed, not missing the smirk that crossed Izuku's eyes.

"There's a lot of things I could show you," Izuku promised.


	4. i was soon to change my mind

The sun beat down on the car, warming the already steaming insides to an almost unbearable degree. If the couple inside weren't sweating from the— _activities—_ occuring inside—which they were, Katsuki Bakugou didn't half-ass anything, especially anything that involved Ochako Uraraka's _whole_ ass—they were sweating from the heat the sun created inside the car. "Mmm," Ochako moaned in-between kisses, "today was definitely the day for the water park." She felt Bakugou's lips move from her own and onto her neck, kissing the bright red bruises already formed there from an earlier session at his house—but that was neither here nor there. "It's really hot," she added, knowing that he was otherwise too busy to hear her—much less respond to her.

"Duh," he said, against her skin, "it's the hottest month of the year." Of course he'd be listening—he was always listening. It surprised her sometimes—how closely he paid attention to what was going on. She should've expected it by now, ever since she's known him, he's been weirdly perceptive of anything and everything happening around them. Sometimes—Most of the time, he pretended that he didn't notice, but that didn't mean that he didn't catch everything going on. A hard bite on her ear sent her back to reality, and she found herself barely dressed in the backseat of his car, her boyfriend sweating on top of her. "You're thinking too loud," he said, rolling his eyes.

"You can hear what I'm thinkin' about?" she asked, a laugh on her lips.

"Damn near," he confirmed, "you always think loud as fuck when something weird happens."

"When was the last time something weird happened?"

"When Mineta went to Mount Lady's house."

"He didn't just go over there," Ochako said, shooting up and moving from underneath Bakugou, a puzzled look on her face.

"Went over, broke in, same difference. He was inside her house and it was really fucking weird," he defended, shooting her the same puzzled look. She furrowed her eyebrows, pushing them together with an intense frown on her face. "And you were thinking really loudly about him the entire afternoon, especially when he showed up on the news."

"Because he's a creep!" she said, "Like I swear he should be arrested or something. Either he's gonna end up hurting someone—"

"Or someone's gonna hurt him."

"How do you know that?" Ochako asked, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes lightly.

"I know everything, angel face," he scoffed, "I'm a fucking genius."

"Oh really?"

He opened his mouth to say something else, but a very clean, silver car pulled into the parking space next to them—far too close to his liking. Releasing a hot breath, Bakugou said in a gravely whisper, "Fucking hell!" In an instant, he moved to the other side of the car, trying to peer into the car that pulled into the spot next to them, only deterred by the tint on the windows. "I bet it's fucking Deku in that car," he said, looking at Ochako with irritated eyes.

"You can't even see in it," she reasoned, peering into the car herself.

"But do you smell that, babe?" he said, taking a long whiff of the air around.

"It smells like sex in here."

" _We_ smell like sex," he corrected, "but _they—"_ he pointed at the car next to them, "smell like bitch. And the only one who smells like bitch is Deku, and that's because he is a bitch." He sniffed the air once more and then nodded his head, confirming his own suspicion. Ochako rolled her eyes and began redressing herself, seeing that they were not going to finish what (s)he? started—not yet, anyway.

Fixing her swim suit, she pulled her sunglasses down and stepped out of the car, staring at her boyfriend through the open door. "Mina and everyone are probably waitin' on us, anyway." She extended her hand and pulled him out of the car, forcing the door closed behind him.

"Holy fuck, you're strong."

"I was a heroine in a shonen series in another life," she said, off-handedly, laughing slightly.

"That's hot."

When she looked back to smile at her boyfriend, Ochako let out an unintended groan. Bakugou turned him head to see what she was groaning out, and moaned loudly too, saying, "I thought it was one bitch in the car, but it turns out there were two." Their eyes settled on Izuku and Shouto, leaving the out of the car, both shirtless and starting to sweat in their swim trunks.

"Why did she moan?" Shouto asked, following not too far behind them. "She didn't seem like a bitch when we met earlier."

"I hate it when he's right," she said.

"I'm always right." he interjected.

"Right about what?" Izuku said, his voice bright and happy.

"Don't trip," Bakugou said, a light smirk on his face, "Just know I'm alright right—and I can smell bitch a mile away."

x

Mina, Shouto soon discovered, was all curly, pink hair and bright smiles—and apparently so was her cousin, Mei. They both sat at a table inside the park, along with Momo, Denki, Mineta, and another classmate—this one with bright red hair styled in spikes. His first thought was to ask if he was black as well—race seemed to be the topic of discussion during class—but then he thought it was better to keep his thoughts to himself _. Besides,_ he reasoned, _he'd see if he was black after getting his hair wet anyway._ His classmates, and the extra, were chattering amongst themselves, and he swore he saw a ghost of a smile when Momo—which was strange considering he thought she was gay, but whatever—turned her head to him.

"Check out what my cousin made for us in the lab!" Mina called, holding a black case in her hands. Ochako squinted and then dashed over, pulling Bakugou with her with what seemed to be enough force to rip his arm off—though it stayed in its' socket. _What a shame,_ Shouto thought, rolling his eyes. He kept his leisurely pace until he noticed Izuku kept up with Ochako—then he hurried along too.

"The lab?" he asked, popping down at the table.

"It's where I make my babies," the extra girl—Mei—piped, sunglasses barely hiding her bright golden eyes.

"We make ours in the back of Katsuki's car," Ochako said in a low voice, sniggering.

"Well, me and Jirou can afford an actual bed," Momo said, looking down at Ochako with a disapproving glare.

"I don't think you two can be making any babies, sis," Kirishima added, shrugging his shoulders, "You two don't have all the right parts for that."

"Can I watch?" Mineta said, moving in closer to Momo, his eyes not directly looking at her red bikini but definitely not looking at her face, "As a science project?"

"That's fucking weird. You're fucking weird," Izuku said.

"Well then can I watch as porn?"

"That doesn't make it any less weird," Momo said, rolling her eyes.

"That isn't a no."

"If anyone says anything else about sex, I'm going home," Mei said, straightening herself up and crossing her eyes.

"Bitch bye," Mina said, waving her off, "You're such a fucking prude." With that, Mei walked off—not that anybody cared. Truthfully, nobody intended for her to come anyway, she just happened to show up with Mina at the last minute and had been quiet enough not to bother anyone. When she started speaking, Shouto knew that she wasn't going to last long enough to be a main character—but he hoped she wasn't going to be regulated to a one-and-done cameo appearance and never heard of again.

Anyway.

"Mei made these," Mina said, opening up the black case and revealing a set of eight watches—each pair a different color. "She whipped them up after hearing that Deku—"

"My name is Izuku," he interrupted, an attitude heavy on his lips

"—Your name is whatever the fuck I say it is, Deku," Bakugou finished, staring down the green-haired boy with narrow eyes.

"—Activated the curse," Mina finished, narrowing her bright yellow eyes at them.

"I didn't even do anything!" Izuku said.

"You're the main character right?" Shouto said, his voice mocking, "Everything that happens from here on out is your fault."

"Y'all gone stop inturrupting me," Mina said, looking dead at Shouto and Izuku. She held up her own wrist and pointed at the black band around it, and the face of the watch displayed wavelengths in a smooth, even pink. "The watches monitor your partner's heart rate, so you can keep track of who's alive. I'm partnered with Mei, so her heart rate is displayed on my screen. I can switch back and forth to tell time, but I have a phone so that's really not important. When the waves stop, it means your partner doesn't have a heartbeat anymore—and she programmed it to leave some sort of alert to let you know to get help."

Ochako peered into the box and pulled out the black band with a smooth, yellow line displayed on the face. As she wrapped it around her wrist, it started reflecting a calm wave, that picked up speed the more she looked at it. She reached her fingers out to touch the black and yellow screen, admiring its glossiness. "It's so pretty," she said, in almost a whisper, "I think I want this one."

"Dibs on the other blonde one!" Denki called, prompting Mineta to look at him and raise a brow. The taller teenager looked over and grabbed the other yellow watch saying, "It's blonde like my hair."

"That's not how you use that word, Denki," Mina said, rolling her eyes. "But you're an actual idiot, so I can't expect you to do everything right."

"I've been getting that a lot, lately," Denki mused.

The rest of the group peered into the box and pulled out a watch and strapped it onto them, not particularly caring who got which color or what partner they managed to get—until Mineta pulled the last watch, a bright orange one. "Ew!" Momo screamed, looking at her own orange watch, "I don't want to be responsible for Mineta!"

"Shouldn't have gotten that watch then, stupid ass," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. He looked at his own watch, finding the wavelength to be white and very steady and shrugged his shoulders. Quickly, he looked around the group and seen that Shouto had his matching watch and he groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. "Who has Kirishima?"

"I do," Izuku said, a smile forming at the ends of his lips.

"Who's Kirishima?" Shouto interjected, looking around with his eyebrows furrowed. He hadn't met everyone in the class, but he was sure that he was catching on pretty quickly; Mina was the girl with pink hair, Denki was the idiot, Momo was the class representative, Jirou was her girlfriend, Bakugou was the guy with the stick up his ass and Ochako was his girlfriend—though he didn't understand why—Izuku was the only one in the classroom with common sense out of everyone in the entire bunch, and Mineta was gross. Kirishima, however? He's never heard of him.

"I'm Kirishima," the redhead piped up from his place at the back of group. Upon seeing his bright red hair, Shouto remembered who he was and almost felt bad for forgetting—almost. If he wanted to be remembered, he would've had to stand out and if he couldn't do that then it was nothing Shouto could do about that. Still, Shouto graced him with a small look, stopping once his eyes spotted a small scar right above the redhead's brown eyes.

"You have a scar," Shouto pointed out.

"Hm?" Kirishima said, tilting his head to the side for a moment. After a moment, he said, "Oh!" and pointed to the smll scar on his face. "You mean this? Above my eye?"

"I have one too," Shouto said, pointing to his own scar on his blue eye, which everyone noticed before and chose to ignore. "Did your dad hit you too?" he asked, prompting Izuku to elbow him in his side.

"You're oversharing again," he whispered, though his seemed to go into one ear and out through the other.

"Uh, no?" Kirishima said, throwing an awkward laugh in. "Denki and I were in a car accident when we were little," he finished, throwing a look over at Denki, who narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Denki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know you remember when we were coming home from school when we were eight and it was raining really hard—"

"—And your mom was mad because we got into another fight—"

"—Which you totally lost—"

"—Suck my dick, I kicked your ass!"

"You're the one who ended up with a bloody nose, but go off."

"And my mom picked me up that day!"

"Bro, I swear you were with me when the car toppled over," he said, before clenching his teeth and holding his head. "Every time I think back on it I swear you're in the car with me." He sucked in a hard breath before shaking his head, sighing deeply. "Whenever I think about it too hard," he started, "my head starts throbbing."

"That went all the way left," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes and looking at Izuku with an emotion other than contempt, "Switch with me, nerd."

"Why?" Izuku asked, his voice light and teasing, much to Bakugou's disdain.

"Because I want Kirishima, duh."

"But why him?"

"Because he's my best friend," Bakugou said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Putting a hand to his head, Izuku smiled a very warm smile before taking his watch off and switching with Bakugou, who grabbed the watch without touching Izuku's tan skin.

"Bro," Kirishima said, wrapping an arm around Bakugou, "I'm your best friend?"

"Yeah, dumbass," Bakugou responded, tightening the watch on his wrist. "Don't let it go to your head," he warned, "I'd sell you to Satan for one corn chip. It just so happens I'd sell everyone else for a lot less than that."

"How much would you sell Ochako for?" Mina asked, giving them a strange look.

"Ochako? I wouldn't sell her to Satan," he said, wrapping an arm around her, "Unless he offered me like, a giant bag of skittles. Then you'd have to go."

"I'm worth a big bag of skittles to you?" she asked, her voice thoughtful as she leaned against him, her head fitting into his shoulder.

"A giant bag. Nothing less, babe."

"As...charming as this," Momo interrupted, rolling her eyes, "if Bakugou gets to switch, then I want to switch, too."

"I'll take Mineta," Denki offered, taking off his watch and giving and giving it to Momo. Ochako, on the other hand, looked as if she had different plans.

"I don't wanna be responsible for her," she said. "Someone switch."

"I'll take Momo," Izuku said, taking his watch off, "You'll have Shouto, but that shouldn't be an issue, right?"

"I'll take him," she said, smiling up at him as she loosened her watch, "he seems like he's alright—a little weird but that's typical." Shouto didn't miss the way her amber eyes winked at him, teasingly and he faintly smiled back at her and scratched the back of his head, a small laugh bubbling on his lips.

"Since everyone's got a partner," Mineta said, stretching his arms out, "I'm gonna go run to the bathroom before we get started."

"The boy's bathroom?" Mina said, narrowing her yellow eyes at him, "It'd suck if we got kicked out because you were peeping."

"Of course the boy's bathroom. I might be a pervert, but women deserve a right to use the bathroom in private," he said, placing a hand above him heart and walking off.

"You believe him?"

"Not in the slightest."

x

In a sense, they were wrong to doubt Mineta. He was plenty of things: a liar, a pervert, a cheater—if he ever got the chance to be one—and a peeping tom, but he was also a man of his word. Truthfully, he was going to the bathroom—the _boy's_ bathroom since Mina wanted to get specific, but he never said that he would stay there. And that is how he found himself crawling through the vents of the bathroom, desperately trying to find the girl's side.

Once he saw the lights underneath the grates and the stench in the air softened to a less gross, but still not pleasant smell, he knew he was home free.

x

"Mineta's such a fucking creep!" Momo said, sitting down and placing a hand underneath her cheek. "He literally left us to spy on some girls using the bathroom."

"You don't know if he's actually doing that," Denki defended from his spot next to her. "He could've went to the locker room to peep."

"It doesn't matter—" Momo began, but then her watch started to vibrate quickly against her skin. She spared a quick glance at everyone, and seen that their watches were vibrating too—fast and loudly. It almost burned her skin, the way the watches moved and ground against the soft flesh hidden there. "What the fuck is happening, Ashido?" she cried, before the vibration suddenly stopped, leaving her wrist red and sore. Before she could say anything else, Denki's watch lit up in bright, bold colors.

"Congratulations!" it cried out, in a voice much like Mei's, "You survived!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Denki said, peering at the watch with furrowed brows.

"It means that you're alive," Ochako said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Maybe Mineta finally died," Bakugou joked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Little creep can't say he didn't have it coming."

"If he's dead, he can't say much of anything," Kirishima pointed out, laughing slightly.

"Maybe we should go check on him?" Izuku asked, looking around at everyone. "He could actually be super dead right now. Denki, what's your watch say?"

"Doesn't say anything," Denki said showing it to Izuku. "When your watches started vibrating, mine went off."

"Shit!" Kirishima said under his breath, jumping up from the table, with the others lagging behind him.

"Does this mean we don't get to enjoy the water?" Mina called, pouting as she followed along with the rest of the group.

x

They said it wasn't supposed to happen—the vents just weren't strong enough to support a whole, human body. It was a freak accident, a force of nature that could have been prevented had he not crawled into the vents—but that was not the point. The point was that it was not supposed to happen, but it did anyway. And really, Mineta was too smart to even try it. He knew better than to crawl in a tiny duct in order to see a breast. When everyone sat down and talked about it, none of it made sense. Nobody could attach a reason as to _why_ Mineta would do something so stupid—except for the most obvious reason.

The curse had started, and it took Mineta first.

The paramedics said that he broke his neck when he fell, even if was only from ten feet above the ground. They weren't allowed to look, but judging from the reactions from the girls leaving the bathroom, it wasn't a pretty sight. "I guess we're not going to be able to spend one of the last hot day doing something fun," Mina said, pouting.

"I mean, Mineta dying isn't _not_ fun," Denki said, playing with his watch, "The little shit shouldn't have been crawling through the vents. Death to the bitch."

"Does this mean we're not gonna fight?" Shouto asked, turning around to Bakugou. who laughed slightly.

"Not today," he confirmed, a light smile on his face. "Mineta gave his life for yours. I'm still gonna rock Deku's shit though. Just becase you're safe, Scarface, doesn't mean that Deku is."

"Run up get done up, Kacchan," Izuku said merrily, resting his head on Shouto's shoulders. "I'm with whatever. I want all the smoke. Whenever."

"Keep this same energy, fuckface."


	5. he gave them the heebie-jeebies

"You know, yesterday wasn't that bad," Kirishima said, walking into class behind Bakugou and Ochako, the latter of which shot him a confused glance.

"Eijiro," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "one of our classmates died yesterday." They followed along into their seats next to each other, almost completing the nearly full classroom. The natural chatter of teenagers already filled the room with as much life as it possibly could, the colors coming from off of the students shining without fail. Kirishima looked back at her and shot a sheepish glance, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well, yeah, but it still wasn't a bad day. It could've been a classmate we liked," he answered, sliding further into his seat.

"I guess yesterday was alright," Bakugou added, pulling a notebook out of his backpack. "Shit could've gone all the way left."

"I think shit did go left," Ochako said, rolling her eyes, "The curse actually started. Mineta actually _died_. Why am I the only one taking this seriously?" She wrapped her arms around herself, pouting slightly.

"Because, like, fuck Mineta?" Bakugou said, shrugging. "Nobody really gave half a shit about him except for Denki, and that's probably because he's a fucking idiot." The blonde loooked around for a pen out of his backpack, rolling his eyes when he didn't find one. He huffed, looking towards his girlfriend, who sighed before giving him the one she held in her hand. "I think Denki was the one who said fuck him yesterday, Cheeks," Bakugou tacked on, shrugging.

"I said 'Death to the bitch'. Don't put words in my mouth," Denki said, walking in the classroom and taking his headphones out of his ears.

"Is your broke ass talking to me?" Bakugou said, raising an eyebrow.

"The only broke person in the room is your girlfriend," Denki said, rolling his eyes and popping his headphones back into his ears.

"You could've left me out of it," Ochako said, turning around in her seat to look at Denki.

"And your boyfriend could have kept my name out of his mouth. I guess we all have things we _could've_ done. Shoulda, woulda, coulda," Denki finished, sliding into his seat with an expression that screamed 'You Tried It'. In her mind, Ochako thought she was going to try him again, just so that she could get the last word in, but when she paid attention to his face, Ochako's own softened. His eyes seemed darker than normal, and she noticed thin, fine lines forming through purple bags that sat just under his eyelids. She fixed her mouth to ask about him, but she found herself unable to speak after staring at him for a moment more.

"I don't think I've ever seen him this upset," she whispered to Kirishima and Bakugou, the former of which only shook his head in response. She gave a last glance at him before continuing, "It's unnatural seeing him so down."

Kirishima nodded, saying, "Yeah, I've been knowing him forever and he's never been this sad. It's super weird." The classroom door creaked open and Shinsuo slid in, his footsteps quiet against the tile floor. Still, as quiet as he was, he couldn't help but attract the attention of everyone else in the classroom.

"It's almost like he's a main character too," Izuku said, giving a knowing look at Todoroki, who made a confused face.

"Fuck are you talking about?" he asked back, shrugging.

"You know what I'm talking about," he insisted, rolling his eyes.

"Denki's just in a sour mood," Shinshuo explain, taking the attention away from the two in the back and directing it towards himself. "Min—what happened yesterday really hit him hard and he hasn't been right since."

"Acting bitchy isn't a healthy way to deal with it," Kirishima said, throwing an understanding look towards his oldest friend, "And you know that. You can talk to me about it if it's bothering you. Or not; there's a million ways to cope."

Denki looked up at him, his dark eyes only flickering for a second. With a soft sigh, he said, "I guess I never learned how."

"You've never felt like this?" Ochako interjected, "You've never lost someone?"

"No," Denki breathed, "I've never learned to cope with an actual death."

Kirishima opened his mouth to speak, but the bell inturrupted him before he could let a single word loose. Instead, he reached a hand out and grabbed Denki's shoulder, giving him a tight squeeze. "I know we're not as close as we used to be...but you can always talk to me. Man to man. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you and I'm here for you. Always." He gave one last reassuring look towards the blonde, who nodded his head in a numb, vague gesture. Heaving a soft sigh, the redhead went back to his seat and gathered his materials for class, watching the door for their teacher to burst in. She was late most days, but he thought the death one of one of her students—though he had no reason to assume this anyway. Instead, the next person to walk through the door was none other than Momo, her hair smoothed back into a glossy ponytail and eyes rearing heavy bags.

"Your eyes are dark enough to see through the bottomless pit that is my soul," Tokoyami said, lifting his own dark eyes to look at her.

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Todoroki said, furrowing his eyes together.

"Sometimes he just says a bunch of shit to sound fake deep," Izuku replied, rolling his eyes. "You get used to it."

"It means," Tokoyami huffed, slightly irritated, "you look like you haven't slept at all last night."

"I didn't," she confirmed, gliding into her seat in the front of the classroom, "I was having a really bad night 'cause of Mineta, so Jirou came over with the strap."

"Why would she try to rob you?" Mina asked, her pink eyebrow lifted, "I thought she loved you."

"And I thought you were a dumbass," Momo said, flipping her ponytail, "I guess we're both right."

"My dad was always strapped up," Izuku added thoughtfully.

"That's why you don't have a dad," Bakugou said with a snarky snicker.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a dad either," Todoroki said, slinging his arm around Izuku, "he used to hit me with the strap."

"You just keep oversharing, Shouto," Izuku said, propping an eyebrow up. "I think it's a personality defect or something. You autistic or something?"

"I'm not a Gary Stu," Todoroki replied.

"And none of you know what a strap is, either," Miss Midnight said, strolling into the classroom with Iida on her hip, disappointment heavy in her throat. "It's slang for a dildo."

"What's a dildo?" Denki asked, raising his hand—not bothering to wait to be called on. "It sounds like a type of bean."

"That's pinto, stupid," Mina said, giving him a strong glare. "A dildo is a kind of instrument with strings. Like a guitar."

"That's a banjo, dumbass," Sero said, laughing, "It's a kind of rodent with a really hard shell."

"That's a fucking armadillo," Bakugou said. "All of you guys are fucking stupid. A dido is a sex toy."

"I'm sorry we're late, class!" Iida said, bowing his head before everyone and effectively changing the subject, "my brother insisted that we ride to school with him today because Mineta's passing yesterday. It can be very dangerous and he doesn't want anything to happen to us when he's not around to protect and serve." Painting a smile on his face, he confidentally strolled to the middle of class and took his seat, quickly getting out his materials and scribbling down the date. Miss Midnight followed suit, grabbing a marker and writing down the date on the white board, along with her intended lesson plans for the day—Sex Education and the History of Lesbianism. She figured if her class didn't know what a dildo was—let alone a bean, banjo, or armadillo—they needed her help.

The classroom door creaking open grabbed the class's attention and Todoroki found himself staring at the principal, who entered the classroom as quietly as he could. Nezu's footsteps barely made a sound as he tipped in, almost silently stepping on the tile and creeping to the center of the room, carrying a deep blue briefcase by his side. When all eyes were on him, he began solemnly, "I have some really terrible news, class."

"Is it about Mineta? Because we all know what happened to Mineta," Todoroki said from his spot in the back of the classroom.

"It is. And I understand that everyone knows what happened to him—some of you guys were even there to see what happened. And I'm sorry you guys had to witness that. It's something nobody should ever have to witness—"

"—I've seen worse," Todoroki replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"You shouldn't have," he said, "The job of a principal is to make my school safe. I'm supposed to make my students safe. And under my watch, a student died. This curse has killed so many people, and I know it hurts—"

"—Not really," Sero said, "The only one really sad about this is Denki, nobody else really cares."

"I don't want anyone to think that this was their fault—"

"We don't," Ochako said, "we don't blame ourselves for anything that happened to him. We didn't tell him to tag along with us, we didn't tell him to run off by himself, and we didn't tell him to get himself killed. He did all that by himself."

"And likewise, I don't want anyone to view death as something to blame others for. Think of them as acts of nature." He bent down and reached into his briefcase, pulling a knife out. With a simple flick of his wrist, he dragged it across his throat, slitting it and spilling blood across the classroom. Momo found herself especially drenched in it, spewing from his life-emptying corpse. A scream ripped from her throat as the blood seeped through her clothes, touching her and sticking to her skin.

"Are we supposed to take notes on this, Miss Midnight?" Iida asked, wiping the blood off of his glasses with his shirt. "Because this is a really big moment in history and I'd like to be prepared if it shows up on a test."

"Don't you get it?" Momo screamed, "Our principal just killed himself!"

"And it'll be for nothing if I fail this class!" Iida screamed back.

"Is no one going to call for help?" Ochako screamed.

"What is there to help?" Izuku replied, thankful for his spot at the back of the classroom and away from the corpse steadily leaking blood. "Nezu's super dead. Ain't no help for him. We might as well get an early dismissal and go home. Try this shit again tomorrow."

"Nobody's going anywhere," Miss Midnight said, standing by the door. "Tsuyu," she said, pointing to a girl with large eyes and green, blood-stained, hair, "call the police."

"No can do," the girl replied, her eyes glued to her phone, "it'll ruin my Snapchat. I gotta get the whole thing or people are going to try and say Deku, Mina, or Tokoyami killed him."

"Why is it always us?" Mina asked, bunching her brows together.

"Because you're black," Tsuyu said, "And every time something happens, the police are going to try and blame the black guys."

"Miss Midnight?" Shinsuo said, raising his hand, "I called the police when Deku started talking."

"My name is Izuku but whatever," he said, huffing and lifting his legs to lay on the seat next to him, partially to avoid the blood making it's way to the back of the classroom. "Y'all are starting to get on my nerves with this Deku shit."

"Our principal is _dead!"_ Momo screamed, her hands balling into fist.

"So is Mineta!" Denki yelled back, crossing his arms. "People die every fucking day in this class! It can be any one of us next! Or our families! Do we honestly give a shit anymore?"

"Yeah," Mina said, under her breath, "A bitch really doesn't want to die right now."

"That's too damn bad!" Denki said, rolling his eyes. "We're all going to die. One of us is already dead. Does it really matter who?"

"Uh, yeah?" Bakugou said, "It matters a lot. I'd die for Ochako and Kirishima, so it they better not be the dead one."

"Bro, you'd die for me?" Kirishima asked, a soft expression taking over his face.

"Yeah—Don't let it go to your head."

"I'd die for you first, bro," Kirishima said, a warm smile crossing his face. "You too, Ochako."

"Please don't," she said, lifting her own feet up off of the floor. "I appreciate the thought, though."

"I appreciate _you_ ," Kirishima said. "I think I'd die for everyone in this class—except for Aoyoma. You're a little weird, fam. And Shouji. And Sato. Basically everyone that isn't an important addition to the class. Everyone else, you're all really cool and I wouldn't mind taking a bullet for you." He turned his red eyes to the unusually quiet Momo, rocking herself shakily in her chair. "You too, Momo. Even if you're a bitch sometimes."

"Then perish," Todoroki said, though he couldn't help the warm feeling bubbling in his chest. It encompassed his entire body, filling him up starting from his heart and moving outward. He let out a little shake, though it did nothing to calm his nerves and steady himself. He felt his hetrochromatic eyes wander the room, and as he looked at his classmates, the warm feeling heated itself into something greater—almost boiling over. Oh shit, he thought, letting out a shaky breath. Does he...he couldn't possibly...

 _like_

his classmates?

His eyes fixed themselves onto Izuku, who's own green eyes were fixed onto his phone, seemingly enjoying Tsuyu's live Snapchat show. He noticed the way his phone was reflected in those bright green eyes, sparkling and highlighting the freckles that dotted his cheeks. The small smile dancing on his lips replayed over in his mind, and he swore he heard his voice over the growing sounds of sirens.

shit.


	6. he had nothing else to give

There was a chill in the air that, on any normal day, Momo Yaoyorozu would've found acceptable—nice, even. The sky had a few clouds in it, blocking the sun from obnoxiously glaring into her large eyes and forcing her to squint and ruin her beautifully neutral expression. Her black heels sunk into the damp grass underneath her feet, and she didn't mind that her Louboutins would be absolutely ruined— _even though these were her favorite pair and she would never find another that matched her dresses so perfectly and did she really have to wear these to a fucking funeral?—_ no, she did not mind at all, because it truly was a beautiful day.

She sucked in a large gulp of air and straightened up, a tight frown forming on her face as she seem more people walking towards the gravesite. A cool, relaxing sensation washed over her body, and when she looked down, she noticed a small hand resting in her gloved one. A small, gentle smile pulled on Momo's lips as she looked at Kyoka Jirou, standing next to her, all half-lidded eyes and dark lipstick. She said something, probably encouraging, but Momo didn't catch it. Maybe she was too caught up in the way her lips moved—or the way her black dress held onto her small body—or just caught up in everything that was Kyoka Jirou, but she didn't catch the words she said. Still, she nodded and started following the dying train of people, leading to the gravesite.

x

It did not take long for Katsuki to discover that he was one of the many people who were less than enthusiastic about being at a funeral. His red eyes dashed back and forth around the cemetery, finding his classmates dressed in dark colors, their eyes downcast and faces solemn. For the first time, it seemed that everyone in his class—plus a few extras here and there—had enough common sense to know things were not okay, would not be okay for a _very_ long time. It would've been a very obvious revelation to anyone with more than seven brain cells—but he knew better than to expect any more from _his_ classmates. He didn't know what it was, but something just did not click in their heads—and because of it, they put everyone in danger. He released a heavy breath as he followed along what he swore to be the world's most disorganized line towards Principal Nezu's final resting place.

His girlfriend followed in the line silently, her pinky wrapped around his in what she deemed to be the most respectful amount of affection they could show in a cemetery— _but fuck a cemetery, we didn't like the fat fuck anyway—_ in an effort to not make anyone feel any more uncomfortable than they already were. Ochako kept her bright eyes focused ahead of her, trying to figure out how much more time would pass before they could go home. Truthfully, she hadn't want to come at all, but Nezu _was_ her principal and Mineta was her, well, not so much a _friend..._ or an associate, really. If she had to describe their relationship, it'd be akin to that very weird cousin that showed up at the family reunion. She couldn't exactly tell him to stay out of her life—but if he did she would not mind at all. Attending this funeral was more of an obligation if anything.

A small smile formed on her face as the train of people closed in on their destination, marked by five rows of eight chairs and two caskets. It seemed normal until she closer, then she couldn't help the gasp that escaped from her mouth. In a matter of moments, she felt all eyes on her, watching her every move. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, threatening to explode, and she could not control her breathing. Katsuki quickly placed an arm around her and held her close to him, asking her something that she could not hear because all of the blood in her body was rushing to her organs too loudly for her to even process what was going on. Bright brown eyes seen everyone staring at her, but she could do nothing but lift a finger towards Mineta's casket. Finally, she gathered herself and spoke.

"What the _hell?"_

Her finger pointed to her classmate's casket, where she found his body upright in a sitting position. Mineta wore a sleek suit, with sunglasses covering his, hopefully closed, eyes. He was positioned toward the crowd, and it seemed as if he was still alive, looking at each and every one of them.

"Mineta asked for this," Denki said, strolling past her to take a seat in the front row, Shinsou hot on his heels. His voice was soft, the words ripping from his throat with a pain that nobody could relate to. Maybe's Mineta's parents, but nobody really cared enough for him to be hurt by any of this. "He wanted to sit up," he continued, a tear falling down his cheek, "so he could know how many hoes came to his funeral."

"Language, Kaminari!" Miss Midnight scolded, crossing her arms in disapproval.

"He'd be so happy to see all you hoes," he finished, finally sitting down. Miss Midnight opened her mouth to say something else about his language, but Shinsou placed a delicate hand on her shoulder—a sign to sit down and mind her business. Without a word, he took his place next to Denki, who said, "It's a shame Tooru couldn't make it. She was his favorite hoe."

"I'm right here," the aforementioned girl said, raising her hand.

"Sometimes, I still hear her voice," Denki said, placing a hand to his chest. "She's here in spirit."

On that note, Katsuki took the seat closest to him and sat his girlfriend down next to him, disappointed but not surprised at the lack of common sense his classmates possessed.

x

By the time Shouto arrived, the funeral had already started. He made it to the gravesite during the middle of a prayer, and felt that he had no choice but to stand behind the minister awkwardly, his head half-bowed and left hand holding his right wrist. He made sure not to cover his left wrist, as his watch cost more than his father's bail money and he needed to have it on display. When the minister stopped talking, he walked in front of him and in the space separating the caskets, only to catch and hold everyone's attention like the star he was born to be.

His mismatched eyes lit up when they found Izuku sitting in the middle of the crowd, and he strut over to him, a delicate smirk on his face. He flippantly waved off the person sitting in the seat next to Izuku, staring at them until they decided to move from that seat and find a new one. Then, he gingerly sat down, a satisfied smile on his face. As smoothly as possible, he whispered something in Izuku's ear to make the smaller boy blush, his freckles seemingly lighting up the room. Shouto couldn't help but notice how cute Izuku looked as he tried to pay attention— _even if his suit was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen and whew, this baby needed to go shopping—_ his green eyes sparkling as he listened to his former-principal's friends speak about him.

Shouto was almost ashamed to admit it, but he could muster any energy to care about Nezu, or this funeral. The same went for Mineta. He chalked it up to be the new student, but there was nothing about these two people that he really cared for. Mineta seemed like a creep and Nezu was just bland. They just didn't have the range to impress him, and it showed. Honestly, the only reason why he came was because he knew he would be the best dressed here—and looking around, he seen that he was right. Nobody else could compare to his outfit, so there was no point in trying to compete.

Although, he couldn't help but look at Momo, who almost looked as good as him. She wore her hair down, with a small, black veil covering a small portion of her face. Her black dress clung to her body with enough subtly to be respectful, and flared out around her hips, adding to the illusion of fuller hips. Shouto had to admit to himself, she would have looked _just_ as good as him, if it had not been for her Louboutins being absolutely filthy. He should have known that she would never be as well-dressed as him, though this was a very cute attempt. Smiling, he realized that's all he had to say about her—cute.

x

Denki sat through the funeral without saying another word, his eyes fixated on his friend, sitting up in the casket, wondering why it had to be him. There were so many other people in the world—so many other people in the classroom—people that didn't _matter—_ and it had to be _his_ friend that died first. Ojiro, Sato, that one weird guy who has too many fingers on one hand—all these other people who nobody gave a shit about—and his _friend_ was the one to die. He felt his breath hitch and he coughed to cover it up, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he found himself staring at his friend, who stared back in the emptiest way possible. Denki's body shook with sniffles that he didn't release because he knew that his friend wasn't staring at him—he wasn't staring at anyone. If the mortician did their job right, his eyes were closed behind those thick ass sunglasses and he wouldn't get a chance to open them again. He felt Shinsou's hand wrap around his but didn't have the energy to hold back.

His friend was dead—and that was it. He let another single tear roll down his face— _just one more cause anything else is for bitches—_ before putting his head in his hands, wiping it away. He looked down at his shoes, unsure of what to do next. He really didn't know if he was doing this whole funeral thing right—he'd never been to one, and he didn't think he ever wanted to go to one again. He didn't know if he was mourning correctly, either. Nobody else felt this way about Mineta—did that mean what he was feeling was wrong? He looked around and everyone in the crowd, seeing their bored faces, and heaved a heavy sigh that seemed to blow away everyone around him. He felt empty—like his insides had been stolen and he was nothing more than a hollow shell of what used to be.

 _Was this wrong?_

He took another look at Mineta, and felt a small smile creep on his lips— _couldn't say he didn't look dope as fuck sitting up like this_.

x

After the bodies were placed in the ground and the crowd left to go about their day, Denki found himself still sitting at Mineta's grave, his head resting against the headstone. He'd toss a rose over the grave, but the wind blew it faster than he could catch it. Dried tear trails stained his face as he wrapped his arms around the headstone, refusing to let it go. He heard footsteps approach him a while ago, but he did nothing to stop them, figuring if he died, at least he was already in a cemetery. "So this is it, huh?" he asked, "This is the end?" He looked up to see Shinsou, who's only reason for being in attendance in the first place was because he knew Denki needed him.

"No," he said, "This is just the beginning."

"Am I doing this wrong?" Denki asked.

"Doing what wrong?"

"Being sad because Mineta died?"

"No," Shinsou said, sitting down next to him. "When my dad died, I wasn't like you. I didn't have any tears for him at all. No sniffles, no choking, nothing. I was sad, but I kept it on the inside. It's how I grieved." He wrapped an arm around him and continued, "You just have a lot more tears. There's nothing wrong with it. There's no wrong way to grieve."

The sound of wet grass being destroyed bought Denki's attention back to the world around him, and he found Ochako, Katsuki, Eijirou, Izuku and Shouto looking at him, their eyes concerned. Gently, Ochako crouched down, reaching out to touch him. Denki flinched hard enough to hit his wrist on Mineta's headstone, prompting a chuckle from Shouto, but said nothing, just watching the girl watch him. In a delicate voice, she asked, "Are you okay?"

His response was quick. "No."

"I—I—don't know what to say," she said, throwing her look back at the people she walked in with. "This is my worst fear."

"Not knowing what to do?" Katsuki asked, quirking an eyebrow up.

"Us ending up like this," she said, gesturing to the headstone.

"Mine is waking up one day to find out that you didn't," Katsuki said, looking down at her.

"Spiders are mine," Denki said, adding to the conversation. "But this sucks too. A lot."


	7. shit just got weird

Jirou released a breath of smoke into the air as she leaned against Momo's car before taking another long drag and letting the cigarette fill her lungs. She closed her dark eyes when she released another smoke-filled breath, her shoulders slumping slightly. The light rain made her want to step into her girlfriend's car, but she knew if she got in smelling like 'that delinquent shit' there would be an argument, and frankly, she just didn't have the time nor energy to fight her today. She lifted her fingers to take another drag, but the sound of wet footsteps prompted her to stop. She looked around, half-lidded eyes wide and alert, but found no one and nothing surrounding her. "Come on, Kyoka," she said to herself, letting go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, "get it together." Still, the wet footsteps echoed in her mind, becoming louder and quicker, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She let her eyes dart around for a moment, and though they didn't see anyone getting closer to her, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was getting a little too close to her. "Get real," she said, tossing her cigarette to the ground and stomping it out, "Curses and shit aren't real. It's all in your head." She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to calm herself down, releasing another heavy breath.

"I wouldn't dismiss it so easily, Kyoka," a masculine voice said from behind, causing Jirou to scream—a foreign and decidedly unwanted sound. She turned around and found her stalker—Tenya Iida—and released an angry groan.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Should I call an ambulance?" he said, slight concern leaking through his voice.

"Figure of speech."

"That's pretty morbid—not to mention inappropriate for a funeral."

"I'm not at this funeral by choice. I didn't give a fuck about Mineta or Nezu. I'm only here because Momo wanted to come."

"That's a really cute gesture, but I didn't ask about all that," Tenya dismissed, waving his hand around. Kyoka raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, she reached into her purse and pulled out another cigarette, determined to light it up and drown out the world around her. "You're going to get lung cancer if you keep smoking, especially with the curse active."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion," she quipped back, rolling her eyes and inhaling the smoke. With a steady breath, she added, "The curse isn't real either."

"Just because you don't believe in something doesn't make it any less real, Jirou," Tenya replied calmly. "It doesn't make Nezu and Mineta any less dead, it doesn't make you—or anyone else in our class—any safer."

"Why the fuck are you here?" she asked, her patience wearing thin. "It's not like you're doing anything useful."

"I'm just the male class representative, what do you expect me to do? Stop the curse?" he bit back sarcastically, placing his hands on his temples. "It'd be disrespectful not to show up for my classmate's funeral, and I'm only checking on you to make sure you didn't sneak off and die. If we're being honest, I thought you'd be the first one to off yourself."

"That's a very Bakugou-like thing to say," she scoffed, "but I'm very much alive and not going to kill myself. I don't want you babysitting me."

"Don't choke on your words," Tenya said, walking back towards the funeral, whose guest seemed to be thinning out by the second.

She watched his retreating for gradually get smaller before all bug disappearing in the misty cemetery. She mindlessly put her cigarette to her lips and went to inhale another puff, but found the stick had went out. "Stupid fucking Iida," she grumbled, fumbling around her purse for a lighter, "stupid fucking funeral." Her eyes lit up when her fingers grazed upon the smooth plastic and she pulled the lighter out, calming down when the small flame came to life. "There's no such thing as curses," she said to herself, breathing in, "No such thing."

Before she could bring the lighter to meet her cigarette, it went out, the flame disappearing just as quickly as it appeared. Rolling her eyes, she fumbled with the lighter before it came back to life. Quickly lighting her cigarette and throwing the lighter as far as she could, she inhaled again, long and deep, letting the smoke run down her throat and fill her lungs. When she went to exhale, she found that she couldn't; the smoke would not leave her. It wrapped itself around her lungs, squeezing them and drying them out, producing very dry, very small coughs. Her throat constricted, tightened with each drying cough that left her body. The smoke filled her entire body and refused to let anything other than more smoke enter her. The air around her was there, wafting around her with a teasing feel on her skin, but did nothing to help her breathe; she couldn't breathe.

Before she realized it, Kyoka had dropped to her knees, clutching the wet grass and hoping, praying that she'd find air. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out—just dry gasps that only she could hear. Her lungs burned from inside her chest and her throat for something—anything—but she wasn't able to help herself. She looked around and realized, for the first time, that she was alone. The only thing she could see were tombstones, and they seemed to stretch on for miles. Can't breathe. She needed help. Can't breathe. She was alone. Can't breathe. She was choking. Can't breathe. She was dying.

 _How fucking ironic._

When she looked up, she noticed the way sunlight reflected off of Momo's windows—and suddenly she had a plan. Can't breathe. Using the last of her strength, she opened the car door and slid into the front seat, pressing her hand on the horn with as much force as she could muster. Can't breathe.

She didn't even feel it when her head hit the steering wheel.

x

The far off noise of someone's undoubtedly cheap car malfunctioning would've been more of annoying to Momo if she wasn't already annoyed by her Louboutin's appearance. With clenched teeth, she forcefully wiped a tear from her wide eyes and let out a harsh breath. After maybe two hours of wear to her principal's funeral, they were completely and utterly destroyed, leaving her to mourn barefoot. A sniffle left her nose for what could have been the four millionth time today and she blinked her tears away. This was the most ghetto situation she'd ever been put in, and it was easy to tell that Momo Yaoyorozu was pissed. She went from class heiress to that crying, barefoot girl in a matter of days. The wet squelching of the grass prompted her to look up, and she found them walking towards her—and she almost vomited in her mouth. "What do you want?" she asked, disgust dripping in her voice.

"Only way someone could have a nasty ass attitude at a funeral is if something crawled in their panties and died—is there somethin' ya wanna confess, Momo?" Ochako retorted, crossing her arms.

"And what happened to your shoes?" Izuku asked, genuinely concerned. "You just don't look to good, sis."

"That makes a few of us then," Momo responded, sniffling. "It's a fucking _funeral,_ I'm allowed to be upset, aren't I?"

"We just wanted to see if you were okay," Shouto said, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off on contact. "It's what friends do."

" _Friends?"_ she scoffed, rising to her feet, "Why on Earth would you think that _we're_ friends, Todoroki?"

"Because all of our fantastic memories we have with each other?" he replied, feeling defensive.

"Like what?" she challenged. Shouto opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it after realizing that she _might've_ had a point. They had never spent any time alone with each other—to his slight dismay because _damn did she have killer legs—_ and the one time they hung out, someone died. Not saying that the someone didn't deserve it—but it was a really bad way to end what could have been a really nice day. Still, that didn't mean that Shouto was _wrong_ , per se, but it did mean that he could be on his way to losing this argument—and losing _anything_ didn't sit well with him. He had to plan his next sentence out very carefully if he wanted this to work out in his favor.

"Like all of the memories we were _going_ to create with each other!" was the best he could come up with. Solid reasoning, he supposed, and he was going to stand his ground it on. "Maybe if you just got that stick taken your of your ass and relaxed—"

"The last time I tried to relax with _you,_ I ended up having to ride home in a police car! Do you _know_ how humiliating that is?! You _cursed_ us!"

"Hey!" Eijiro interjected, placing himself in between Momo and Shouto, "maybe we should all just calm down. We're friends, right Momo?" The girl looked at him with something softer than anger in her eyes—which must've been a terribly difficult feat to accomplish—and nodded quickly. "Yeah! Remember, I said I'd take a bullet for you, even if you are a bitch sometimes. Aren't callbacks fun!"

"You said you wouldn't take one for Aoyama," Ochako added, snickering. "But to be fair, I wouldn't take one for him either. He's really weird."

"Maybe we should just sit here and remember good things, yeah?" Eijiro finished, sitting down on the wet grass, clearly not caring about the suit Bakugou picked out but you know, whatever.

"It'll help us calm up!" Denki said, taking a seat next to him, a small smile on his face.

"You are exactly right, buddy."

"As much as I'd love to sit here and play fucking campfire stories, someone's cheap ass car horn is going off and I'm about to lose my fucking marbles," Momo said, standing up and crossing her arms.

"That's _your_ cheap ass car," Bakugou said, cocking an eyebrow up.

"Can't be," she said, rolling her eyes, "Jirou has my keys." Her stomach dropped when she realized that her girlfriend had her keys and her horn was _still_ going off. She squinted and looked towards the direction of her car, and though she couldn't see through the fog, she started running. Pale feet kicking up mud and whatever creepy crawlies lie on the dirt floor, she took off as fast she could towards her parking space.

x

Seeing Kyoka Jirou slumped over in her car caused parts of Momo to hurt that she didn't know still existed. She tapped the window of her car furiously, crying—screaming— _begging_ for Jirou to _please open the door, baby I'm here please,_ until her throat ran raw and she couldn't hear herself anymore. The longer she stared at the window, the louder the horn seemed to get, and she found herself not looking at Jirou, but her own reflection. Wild eyes stared back at her, red rimmed and running, on a face that seemed to be melting with wild hair framing this picture of hours she put into herself were rendered meaningless in less than ten minutes.

x

" _You do realize we're going to a funeral, right?" Kyoka asked, slightly annoyed. Momo noticed her watching her for half an hour, but if she wasn't going to complain then she wouldn't ask her._

" _It's not like I forgot," she said, applying highlighter to her nose._

" _Then why are you doing all this?"_

" _Because," she said, turning away from the mirror to look at her girlfriend, "you deserve to walk in with the most beautiful girl on the planet—and this the only chance I have on stunting on Rihanna."_

" _I think you look perfect."_

" _I know you_ are _perfect."_

X

Narrowing her eyes, Momo clenched her hands into a fist. Before she registered what she was doing, she raised her arm and elbowed her window, shattering the glass in an instant. She chose to ignore the 'Your door was probably open' she heard in the background. Breathing harshly, desperately, she opened the car door from the inside and pulled Jirou out, not paying attention to the stinging pain in the arms. "I got you," Momo said, pulling the girl close to her and brushing her hair out of her face, only then seeing a large gash on her forehead, still bleeding. The stillness in Jirou's chest sent shivers down Momo's spine, but she refused to let a single tear drop from her eyes. She'd spent the entire day crying—at this point she was _over it._ She turned around and yelled, "Someone call a fucking nine-one-one! She's not breathing!"

"Got it!" she heard Denki call, and for the first time, she thanked God that he was close. "What's their number?"

She took her thanks back.


	8. its my time to S H I N E

"...You guys think she's going to be okay?" Ochako asked, her hands fidgeting in her lap. She wrung her hands, gripping herself tightly before letting go and re-gripping herself. She flashed her eyes up and found herself staring at a stale-faced Izuku, his perfectly arched eyebrows threading and knotting together. "She's gotta be okay, right?" She drew her attention to Shoto, who looked at her for a moment before shifting his gaze somewhere else. Sighing, she buried her head in her hands and released a shaky, heavy breath before another escaped, and soon she found herself unable to control the tears that started to fall.

"Jiro's really in trouble," Denki chirped, his voice light and bright, "but it's not like she hasn't been in bad positions before."

"Like that time her headphones exploded in her ear," Eijiro said, a small smile forming on his lips for the first time since he watched Momo break her own window trying to save her girlfriend. Denki gave a confused look but didn't say anything, keeping his mouth shut.

"Right, or that time Mister Yamada screamed so loud it shattered her eardrums," Mina added, leaning her head on Kirishima's shoulders. This even made Bakugou, who had been unusually quiet, give a small chuckle. "And he still swears he's not _that_ loud." The other blond quirked up an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, still confused.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked.

"You don't remember?" He shook his head quickly, so Mina continued, "That time in ninth grade when Yamada was pissed about Jiro sleeping during class and yelled in her ear. She woke up screaming and holding her ear and then there was hella blood coming out of her head. Shit was crazy." She looked at Denki for a moment, noticing the usual confusion in his eyes was replaced by something different—more genuine, honest. The dopey look to him was lost, and all of a sudden he was just a confused kid, watching everyone remember something he couldn't. She reached out and touched his cheek, the tips of her nails gently massaging circles into his skin. Her bright yellow eyes searched his for any sign of understanding, of reasoning, but she was just met with her own reflection. She stopped rubbing him, only to wind her hand back and smack him, her hand producing a loud 'clap'.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Eijiro said, pulling Mina away from Denki.

"What the fuck is wrong with _him?!"_ she screamed back, pointing to Denki. She grit her teeth and turned to look at him, pink eyebrows furrowing together in confused anger. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why don't you remember what happened to Jiro?"

"I don't know!" he screamed back, putting his hands up defensively. "I forget shit sometimes, my fucking bad!"

"He asked for the number to nine-one-one like twenty minutes ago," Izuku said, giving Mina a sad look. "Denki's not good at remembering much of anything. I think you just need to calm down—"

"She's right," Denki said, his voice wavering, "You are too—but she's right. I don't _know_ what happened to Jiro back then. I'm trying to look back on it, but I _can't._ I'm not gonna lie and say that I know what you guys are talking about. I don't even know what happened to her _now._ All I know is that we're in a fucked up situation and my friend is _dead."_ He stopped talking, looking at Mina with a pained look in face before continuing, "And Jiro's probably next. I like Jiro—I don't want her to die—I don't want any of us to die—I don't want to be in the fucking hospital right now but _that's_ what's going on."

"We gotta stop this," Ochako said quietly, shaking her head. She looked around one last time and said, "I don't want to lose my friends."

"And please, Ochako Uraraka, how do you propose we stop the fucking curse? Enlighten me," a voice feminine voice said, their words cutting through the air like a sword. Ochako looked up to find Momo sauntering towards her, her arm in a sling and heels back on her feet. "It's a trick question—there _is_ no way to stop this. You're going to watch all of your friends die—if you don't die first."

"Leave her the fuck alone," Katsuki said aggressively, gritting his teeth.

"You know it's true," she bit back, putting her free hand on her hip. "It's my girlfriend today, but it could be yours tomorrow." Momo exhaled heavily, letting a tear slip down her face. "I was lucky, you know? I didn't have to watch her...I didn't see her die." Another tear slipped down her face and she inhaled, her free hand forming a fist. "It's not like I could've saved her. This curse fucking gets _everyone."_

Izuku stood up to speak, "I don't think—"

"You know what I think, Deku?" Momo started, her voice cracking and throat raw, "I think that you and your fucking boyfriend killed Jiro. I think that your existence is a fucking plague. And I know that my life would be so much better if you had just _stayed dead."_ She inhaled a sharp breath, and then another, and another until those breaths turned into sobs. They shook her body, sending tremors through her and for a minute—just a minute, because she really had the game fucked up if she thinks she can talk to _him_ like this—Izuku forgot that she was Momo Yaoyorozu. For a moment, she was just a girl who lost someone.

He almost felt bad.

"I'll handle this."

x

Denki pulled Momo out of the hospital's waiting room and into the parking lot, holding her by her free arm as gently as he could. Sobbing and sniffling, the girl didn't have it in her to fight against him and she followed behind him as silently as she could, the only sound she paid attention to was the clicking of her heels. As soon as they were out of view, he pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her as loosely as he could. He was shocked to feel her lean her head against him, resting her forehead on his chest. "You're gonna get snot on my nice shirt, Yaoyorozu."

"I'll buy you a new one, Kaminari," she sniffed, almost laughing to herself.

His eyes widened, and he pulled away from her, staring at her for a beat. "You know my name? Like my actual name?"

"Yes...?" she answered slowly, tears still streaming down her face.

"I thought you didn't care," he said, chuckling.

"I don't—"

"Well that's a shitty thing to admit. You can at least _pretend."_

"Midnight's been calling your name everyday since the semester started. It was stuck in my head for a week," she said, adding a groan.

"I was in your head?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. He looked at her, her dark eyes red rimmed and wide and her body shivering—almost trembling in the darkness. Her hair was left in a sleek mess than ran down her back and threatened to encompass her, swallowing her whole.

"Stuck there," she confirmed, "for weeks." She let out a breath, the strongest she's had all day, and said, "She liked you, you know? Thought you were funny, cute."

"I liked her too," he replied, a light smile on his face. "She was really cool." After a beat, he added, "I like you, too."

"You don't," she said, leaning her head on his chest, "She's the only person who likes me, and she's dead. Everyone else thinks I'm a bitch." She laughed lightly, good naturedly, but it came out as more of a scoff if anything.

"You are a bitch," he said quickly, "but I think there's a little more to you. Jirou liked you for a reason, right?" And then, he couldn't help himself. He tilted her head up to face him and placed his lips on hers—lightly, so if she wanted to pull back she could. It was a small, delicate kiss, so subtle she could miss if it she weren't paying attention, his lips resting on hers. And just as quickly as it happened, it ended. He pulled away from her, saying, "Did I do that right?"

"No," she said, rolling her eyes. She scoffed lightly before wrapping her free arm around his neck, tilting her head up and placing a small kiss on his lips. "That's how you do it." Smiling softly, she tilted her head back down and rested against his chest. "I don't know why she liked me," Momo admitted, softly. "I asked her, sometimes, but she never gave me a reason. I thought she liked me because everyone liked me—but then I realized nobody liked me. Except her, and I didn't know why. I still don't."

"Maybe saw something special in you," Denki suggested, "That's a good enough reason to like someone."

"I doubt it. There's not much special about me."

"Don't say _that_."

"Do you see something special in me?"

"No." After a beat, he realized he answered a little too quickly, and maybe a little too honestly. In his defense, the truth comes out a little too harsh, and he didn't think of himself as a liar. Still, Momo's not as depressed demeanor dropped, and at this point, Denki knew he fucked up. "I mean," he said, trying to salvage the moment, "I think you're pretty...great sometimes." Good save, Kaminari.

"Really?" she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah! Like when you're in class being all smart and shit—that's really great. And all the shit you do for our class is great! And you're really pretty, which makes up for all the times you're a bitch."

"Thanks," she replied, with a roll of her eyes, "at least you're being honest." Still, a small smile settled onto her face. Releasing a breath, she said, "Drive my car home? I can't in this sling."

"You're gonna let me drive your car home?"

"I'm asking you to come home with me," she said, walking to the car.

Denki chuckled to himself as he walked to the car, shaking his head lightly—that was the best idea anyone's had all day.


	9. woke ass citizens of the world

With an everlasting smile bright enough to blind Jesus, Hanta Sero walked into the hospital, inadvertently making it a lighter, happier place. The nurses smiled as they ran past him into the emergency section, their shoes scuffing the hospital floor. There was a patient who said something he hoped was friendly in his direction. Even a doctor pushing a tray waved at him— _oh he's pushing a corpse._ Oops. Well, he waved to the receptionist, who gave a friendly, if not a little awkward, smile back and searched up and down the waiting room for his friends and one acquaintance.

"Sero! My favorite background character!" Mina shouted, rushing towards him and wrapping her arms around his waist, squeezing him as tightly as she could, "You missed everything today!"

He responded in kind, saying, "I don't think I missed anything." His hands brushed her fluffy pink hair lightly, and if she wasn't utterly devastated by Jiro's sudden death she'd let him have it—maybe she'd do it tomorrow, when she felt better. "Did anything else happen between Mineta's super creepy corpse and Jiro having a—asthma attack? Was that what it was?"

"The doctors won't tell us anything," Ochako said, her head in her hands. "We just _know_ she's dead. It's not like the curse just gives us brushes with death."

"You never know," Sero said, shrugging, "That whole curse thing may decide to take it easy on one of us." His frown dropped momentarily, but then he perked back up, laughing. "This whole thing just reminds me of that time when Jiro got yelled at and then her ears started bleed—"

"I don't wanna talk about Jiro anymore," Izuku said quickly, shaking his head. "She died like, an hour ago. It's weird talking about her like she's not here."

"Is it…" Mina started, her voice shaky, "is it gonna be weird to talk about me when I die?" She felt tears well up in her eyes but she blinked them away as quickly as she could, but new ones replaced them before she could get rid of them. She clenched her teeth and shook her head, pink curls flying around wildly. "When I die, I want you guys to be able to talk about how great I was without feeling weird—because that's what I want to do with you guys! I wanna be able to reminiscence without being sad when y'all die." Releasing another shaky breath, she clenched her fist so tightly that her acrylics dug into her hands.

"Nobody else is going to die—" Todoroki started.

"That's bullshit," Bakugo interrupted, "and if you don't know it by now you're a fucking idiot."

"We have to stop this," Ochako said, holding her head in her hands. "I don't want to lose any more of my friends."

"You already said that," Mina pointed out, bitterly. "We're _all_ going to die, Todoroki," she continued, looking at the taller boy with tears streaming down her face. "And if it's not us, then it's someone we care about—and that just makes it worse. The curse isn't just going to leave us alone."

"Honestly," Sero said, a half-smile on his face, "I don't think that the curse is real."

"How can you say that?" Izuku said, furrowing his brow. "Mineta _and_ Jiro are _dead!_ Momo broke her arm trying to save her!"

"Mineta's death was probably just karma coming back to bite him in the ass," Sero shrugged. "And you can't smoke a pack a day and expect not to have breathing issues—especially when you have asthma."

"She hasn't had an asthma attack since she was six," Ochako spoke up, still holding her head. "I thought I'd be the one to go out like that."

"Well, you still got time," Sero quipped, earning an annoyed glare from Mina.

"Shut up," Bakugo said, no anger in his voice, "Nothing's gonna happen to you."

"What makes you think that she's so special?" Mina said, crossing her arms and huffing, "She's not immune to the curse. None of us are. Momo was right—it could be anyone of us. It could be _all_ of us." With that, she stormed out of the hospital, her black heels clicking against the tile floor loudly.

"I'll fix it," Kirishima said, giving an apologetic smile before chasing after the pink haired girl, his own red hair bouncing after him. Sero gave a half smile to everyone before shrugging and walking out too—so much for being the favorite background character.

"How do we stop this?" Ochako asked, finally looking up, her brown eyes red rimmed and tired.

"I don't know," Todoroki answered, and it was the first time in a long time that he said what he was actually feeling.

x

Shoto walked into class a moment before the bell rang—thanking the universe and Beyonce that he made it to school without incident. He scanned the classroom, finding it bright and loud and felt a small, delicate buzz radiate from his classmates. His eyes were drawn to Izuku in the back of the classroom—his emerald eyes closing as he laughed at something Ochako or Tenya said. Shoto let his gaze linger on the boy for a moment, taking in the brightness of his teeth, the tears welling in his eyes, the freckles scattered across his face. He felt his breath leave his lungs quickly, and he panicked—he didn't want to be the curse's next victim. He clutched his chest and darted his eyes around the room quickly, finding no one able to help and seemingly unable to catch his breath. He let in small quick breaths that didn't provide him with any oxygen and wondered why his body chose today of all days to stop working.

Before he could work himself into a bigger panic, he felt a small tap on his back. Turning around, he found one of his classmates staring at him, her eyes larger than the rest of her features. "You're blocking the door," she said, moving past him. He immediately gathered his breath to say something to her, but stopped when he realized that he could breathe again—and that he shouldn't push his luck. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling it— _he'd never take breathing for granted again—_ he walked to his seat in the back and smiled as he sat down next to Izuku. He opened his mouth to speak to the very pretty boy, but was stopped by an annoyed Tenya standing at the head of the classroom.

"Gosh, Todoroki," Tenya said, pushing his glasses further up on his face, "am I a joke to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Shoto responded, confused.

"First, you come in here breaking every rule we set and curse the entire class. And now you're talking while I'm starting class?! Do you take anything seriously?"

"Is my education a game to you?" Denki piped up, turning around in his desk.

"You can't even spell education," Katsuki said, rolling his eyes and propped his feet up on his desk.

"All the more reason why he should be here learning!" Tenya said, "But it seems like you just want to waste his time—and everyone else's!"

"I didn't say anything!" Shoto responded, exasperated.

"But you thought about it!"

Izuku threw a glance towards Momo, who was gone from her usual seat in front of the class and seated in the protagonist's spot—right near the window. "Are you gonna let this go on, class representative?"

"Not my job anymore," she said, her hand under her chin.

"What?" Mina gasped, eyes wide. "But you love bossing us around and coming up with new ways to assert your authority!"

"Denki said I deserve a break, so I'm letting my vice take over," she said, a sigh heavy in her voice.

"Bullshit!" Deku said, rolling his eyes, "Momo never takes a break."

"And that's why she's so uptight," Denki said, a lazy smile on his face. "She needs a li'l breaky-break."

"I think we all do," Eijiro added, "it's been a stressful semester."

"Yeah," Shoto agreed.

"There you go again, Todoroki!" Tenya said, pointing a finger in his direction.

"Bruh," Shoto said back, putting his hands up in confusion.

"If it's okay with _you,"_ Tenya began, pulling out a list from the teacher's drawer, "I'd like to take roll before Miss Midnight gets here." He looked at the list and crossed off a few names before starting, "Aoyama?"

"✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*(*❦ω❦)*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧," he replied, earning several confused glances from his classmates.

"How the fuck did you say that?" Katsuki said, his blonde brows furrowed in confusion. "Never do it the fuck again. Everyone who is important is here so can we just start?"

"Absolutely no—" but before he could finish his sentence, Tenya's phone rang. He rolled his eyes before walking out of the room to take the call. As soon as he walked out of the room, Shoto released a breath he didn't know he was holding and Mina stood up on her desk, propping her hands on her hips.

"I think we should figure out how to stop the curse," she declared, "I think we are smart and beautiful people and I don't want to fucking die so we need to stop this—now."

"I think," Sero said, standing on his desk as well, "that the curse is just a bunch of bullshit upperclassmen made up to explain the weird shit that happened thirty fucking years ago."

"Have you been asleep the past few weeks?" Tooru said, not standing up on her desk but looking very serious in her seat, "Two people died. Wake up."

"Three," Tokoyami said.

"We don't count Mineta as a person," Ochako said, her voice serving as a gentle reminder. "Does two and a half sound fair?"

"Hey!" Sero said, waving his arms, "I fancy myself a woke ass citizen of the world—"

"I think we're _all_ woke ass citizens of the world," Izuku said.

"—and we all know that the curse is bull! Think about it—why would we just die because some kid got murdered thirty years ago? That makes no sense."

"Then why are we _dying?"_ Mina said, stomping her foot on the desk. "We just can't pretend like it's not happening!"

"...I don't know about that one, chief," Ochako said from her seat, "We were all so _happy_ before we started worrying about the curse...and I felt really happy before we started talking about it again. I don't wanna lose that feeling by bringing it up again."

"What are you saying?" Mina said, looking at her with wide, almost watery eyes.

"She's saying that—" Katsuki began, but was cut off by his girlfriend.

"I got this," she said, before continuing, "I'm saying that if we accept it as a coincidence and move on then we'll feel better. And if we be careful...we can survive this."

Mina stepped off of her desk and looked around the classroom, hearing murmurs of agreement. She felt her breath hitch in her chest before she let it out, a sob escaping with it. "And I'm saying," she said, "that your thinking is gonna get us all killed. And I don't wanna fuckin' die."

With that she stormed out of the classroom, leaving behind her bag and umbrella. There was a heavy silence that infiltrated the class, looming over the brightly colored students like never before. Ochako opened her mouth, but closed it when she realized she didn't have anything to say. Quietly, Tooru stood up and grabbed the bag and umbrella, following Mina out of the room, saying, "She probably shouldn't be alone right now."

x

Tooru raced down the school's hallways, paying no attention to the blonde hall monitor threatening to write her up. Her only focus was on her friend—on her best friend—and making sure that she didn't end up hurting herself while trying to keep herself safe. It'd be ironic—too ironic, and a little cheesy—if she managed to slip and break her neck getting away from there. It wasn't before long that she heard her—the scuffing of her shoes making it clear that she was the girl Tooru was looking for. "Mina!" she called, running faster down the hall, "You can't just run off like that! Bad things always happen to girls when they split up—you've seen all the scary movies!" She bolted down a flight of steps before stopping to catch her breath. "Minaaaaa," she called, before starting to run again, heading for another flight.

Before she could reach the third step, she stepped on one of her laces, sending her tumbling down the stairs. She let go of the bag and umbrella, using her hands to shield her face as she hit every step on the fall down the stairs, the umbrella opening up as it hit the bottom. She didn't have time to scream before the umbrella rammed itself through her throat, silencing her forever.


End file.
